Alexander Volkanovski is keen to proceed his second reign as UFC champion.
“The Nice” reclaimed the featherweight title this previous April with a classic efficiency in opposition to Diego Lopes at UFC 314. A vacant belt was up for grabs with now-former champion Ilia Topuria departing the division to maneuver as much as light-weight and Volkanovski seized the chance with each palms.
At 36, Volkanovski is approaching the twilight of his profession, however he nonetheless needs so as to add extra large fights to his legacy. Chatting with UFC Australia/New Zealand, Volkanovski supplied an replace on his championship plans, briefly mentioning the opportunity of a battle with No. 1 contender Movsar Evloev.
“What’s subsequent for me?” Volkanovski stated. “Nothing’s too clear. There’s a number of shifting elements. Clearly, earlier than the battle I used to be considering it’s going to be Movsar, however I feel he’s preventing. He talked about him preventing.”
Evloev has been tied to a rumored bout with former Bellator star Aaron Pico, however no official announcement has been made relating to that matchup.
The opposite potential challenger continuously talked about to face Volkanovski is Yair Rodriguez. When it was initially introduced that UFC 320 would happen in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sept. 13 and function a continuation of the Noche UFC sequence, all indicators appeared to level to Mexico’s Rodriguez getting a second shot at Volkanovski in the primary occasion. Nonetheless, with the Sept. 13 occasion now being moved to San Antonio and now not a pay-per-view, it appears unlikely that Volkanovski’s subsequent title protection will happen there.
UFC 320 is now scheduled for Oct. 4 in Las Vegas and that may very well be a possible date for Volkanovski’s subsequent protection. September didn’t make sense for him anyway on condition that he and his spouse expect a toddler that month.
“Listening to Yair’s identify getting talked about a good bit, simply the date of September has—you realize, however that’s simply most likely not one of the best date,” Volkanovski stated. “Clearly, I’m having a child that month, so if we may work round that, that may be higher. So we’ll simply see what’s occurring. Once more, a number of shifting elements. We’re planning on having a chat with the boss, Dana [White] and [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell], very quickly, so we’ll see what’s happening.”
Volkanovski and Rodriguez beforehand fought in a featherweight championship unification bout at UFC 290 in July 2023. Rodriguez entered that battle as interim champion, however didn’t take Volkanovski’s undefeated standing because the Australian star completed Rodriguez through TKO within the third spherical.
